Hong Kong murders: Rurik Jutting 'may have schizophrenia'

Rurik Jutting is guarded by police on his way to the Eastern Magistrates' Courts in Hong Kong, China, November 3, 2014 EPA

The British banker charged with murdering two women in Hong Kong may have schizophrenia, it has been reported.

Rurik Jutting, 29, has received treatment for the mental disorder, sources close to the inquiry are said to have told The Times.

The newspaper reported that the ongoing police investigation into the case is understood to have been influenced by the suggestion that Jutting had been undergoing treatment for schizophrenia since before arriving in Hong Kong in the summer of 2013.

Sources reportedly said that Jutting had been diagnosed with schizophrenia in his early twenties.

The two victims, 23-year-old Sumarti Ningsih and 29-year-old Seneng Mujiasih were found at the Cambridge graduate’s 31st floor luxury apartment in the city’s Wan Chai district.

Police had been called to the property the night of 31 October, where they first found Mujiasih with wounds to her throat and buttocks. She died a short time later.

Eight hours later the body of Ningsih was discovered wrapped in a carpet and concealed inside a suitcase on the balcony outside.

Hong Kong murders: British banker Rurik Jutting charged with the murder of two women

Hong Kong murders: British banker Rurik Jutting charged with the murder of two women

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The British expatriate Rurik Jutting being taken to court in Hong Kong, where his lawyer suggested he may co-operate with police over the two murder charges he is facing

AFP/Getty

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One of the women found discovered at the flat in the Wan Chai district was found inside a suitcase

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Forensic police working in the Hong Kong flat where the bodies of two women were found

AP

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A general view of a high-rise apartment building (C) where the bodies of two women were found, at Hong Kong's Wan Chai district

At a court hearing on Monday it was announced that Jutting will undergo psychiatric tests to see if he is fit to stand trial.

The judge adjourned proceedings for two weeks while the assessments are carried out and the banker was remanded in custody.

Sources told The Times that as part of their investigation they are looking into whether Jutting had stopped taking the medication proscribed for his condition in recent months.

It is believed Jutting quit his job at Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s Hong Kong only a few days before the first murder.

It has been widely reported that he set up an automated email response in the days prior to the murders, which said: “I am out of the office. Indefinitely. For urgent enquiries, or indeed any enquiries, please contact someone who is not an insane psychopath.”

There was no response when The Independent contacted Hong Kong police today.